Meadow is a relaxing online multiplayer game made by the same people who made the Shelter series.

Meadow isn't much of a "game" but it is a great stress reducing experience. You get to choose an animal and then play in an open world map with other online players. The main gameplay is to search out things such as obelisks and flowers, which will in return give you unlockable animals, skins, emotes, etc. Other things you can do are roleplay, go on a solo search for things, or lounge around with other players. There isn't a hunger or thirst system and the hunting is gone too. Meadow was meant to be a relaxing social platform and it achieves exactly what it set out to be. In Meadow there is also no chat box. The chat is replaced by personalized emotes and symbols which helps keep the game stress free and a unique experience.

Pros: - Beautiful world. The art is gorgeous and there is a day and night cycle. Also fog, rain, snow etc. - Great community. The people in the game are very friendly and are what make the game as wonderful as it is. - The group dynamic. Being alone is quite boring but finding a group adds a whole new experience. - Animals. There are so many choices between badgers, frogs, foxes and more. Every animal plays differently. - Emotes. No angry yelling or meme usage here. Personalized emotes and actions add a uniqueness to meadow. - Relaxing. Between the music, art, and simplistic gameplay; Meadow is the best game to play after a stressful day.

Cons: - No "brb" or "afk" emote. In a game where you travel in large groups who are almost always running, its a bummer to step away for a second to find out your entire group is gone. We need a way to communicate that we'll be back in a minute. - Some glitches/game crashes. I've run into a few glitches here and there, but not enough to ruin the experience. The game does crash every single time I try to exit though. Not sure if anyone else is having that problem.

Nuetrals: - Exclusive animals. Meadow has a large variety of animals, but some are only unlocked by owning other Shelter titles. That also goes for different sounds and emotes. On one hand I wish I could unlock, not buy, all the features. On the other hand, it is a nice reward for those who have supported the series. - Survival mode. I really want to see a survival mode incorporated into a seperate server in Meadow. There is a roleplay server, but you have to pretend to hunt, eat, and drink. It would be cool if people can play the game casually like intended, but others can hop onto the survival mode and play the more intense version of the game.

TLDR: Meadow is a relaxing open world multiplayer game where you can meet new people and collect items together. Unlock skins, personal emotes, and animals and enjoy your time in the world that was built for you :)

I was walking for a good hour, no one in sight.Then one lone lynx cub found me. They led me back to an entire pack of animals.We all roved around the forest together until we hit a mountain.All of us started to head around, but the lynx wanted to show me something.We seperated from the pack, just the lynx and I, and went through a cave instead.The cave was lined with beautiful purple crystals and the slight sound of a waterfall echoed in the distance.We took our time walking through, soaking in the scenery.When we found the exit the rest of the pack was just getting around the mountain, and we continued roaming together.

i ran around aimlessly barking as a badger cub. realized there was a map/radar, saw two blips nearby. chased them down. many hellos, a frog and a bear cub. we jumped around, climbed stuff, and collected shiny things. ran around in an area full of balls that made noise and poofed. obviously we jumped around in that for a bit. we merged with a large group of maybe ten or more other animals. stampeded around for a while. after a bit everyone ended up split into smaller groups again. i jumped off the end of the earth, which was hilarious and strange. walked alone in a snowy region when a frog, maybe the same from earlier, maybe a different, found me. explored with the frog for a bit. lost him when we merged with another pack, i was ready to sniff around alone for a bit. got sad, it's not about being alone.

i had a ridiculous amount of fun. felt real connections with such little communication. 10/10

it's not the kind of game i typically play. i might never play again, maybe i will. but i don't think i'll ever forget about it.

• No idea what doing• Wander around figuring out controls• Find a frog who I can’t seem to figure out how to interact with• Realize it’s a player and not a computer• He seems to be afk• Run off and find another player this time a stag• Spend a few minutes trying to figure out how to talk• Realize there is no voice chat and all communication is done via emotes and symbols• Stag seems to be asking if I want to run with him• I say yes• We spend the next hour as what I can only describe as an actual Disney film• We cross rivers, venture into caves, play in dirt, swim in lakes, run across fields, climb mountains, and spend breaks resting and sleeping• The art style didn’t completely sell me until I actually started to play the game• This game is gorgeous• We finally loop around after I collect a bunch of new emotes and skins for my animal• Reach the main hub and I tell my friend that ill be right back I’m going to change into the animal I just unlocked• He agrees• I say goodbye• Go to main menu change my badger into a rabbit and sprint back to the tree• When I arrive there’s no animals there• I call out using the little rabbit squeaks but there’s no stag to be found• I spend a few minutes looking but he’s nowhere to be seen• The game music somehow seems to mimic my emotions somehow• Sadness• …• …• …• Find a badger who is walking in circles• Try to communicate for a few minutes• Ask him to follow and he does• Off to start new adventures with new friends• Goodbye old friend, though our encounter was brief, rest assured that it was one of the happiest in my video game career• Hopefully we meet again

331 people found this review helpful240 people found this review funny

Recommended

9.6 hrs on record

Posted: June 27, 2017

> Finds a cool cave.> Needs a friend to explore with.> Finds badger.> Badger agrees to go to mountains.> Look for cave.> Climb a bunch of mountains with my friend.> Find a big group of people.> Badger agrees to join.> Lose badger among many other badgers.> Walk around spamming the crying emote along with a question mark, in hopes of him finding me.> Two badgers respond identically.> What> One loses patience.> The remaining one I ask if we went to mountains using emotes.> Says yes.> Jump around with him.> 5 mins later> Badger lies down on ground, says the negative and crying emote> Oh no> Badger disappears> Cry lying on ground in-game> Jump off the map.

I love this game. Let me start of by saying, it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea; if you're looking for a game with strategy or fighting or a clear end goal with a huge community online daily, this is not for you.

Meadow is a game where you play as a variety of different animals, which are unlocked as you play or by owning previous Shelter titles, which the game is based on, with different minor skillsets - frog swims faster than others, pheasant has a short range fly, eagle can fly properly etc.

You explore the map, discovering caves and little known groves while searching for collectables called essence. Essence comes in two main forms:- flowers of varying rarity for which there are achievements for collecting.- puzzle pieces that allow you to unlock new skins and emotes for your current animal, but also unlock new animals to play as.

Group play is rewarded by randomly spawning obelisks in the world that require a minimum of two animals to unlock and some larger require a group of six including specific animals. The community is small but very friendly. Communication is through the use of emotes showing things in the world such as essence, flowers, obelisks, a "this way" arrow, "we need to climb/swim" etc, and emotional expressions for your animal - happy, sad, waving etc. Despite minimum levels of communication, bonds form quickly after running with the same animals for a while, people often come back and help if you're stuck climbing somewhere or have fallen behind and people are usually sad to see you go after being part of their mixed up herd for a few hours.

As the game goes, there's no end goal, it's exploring and collecting. The game looks beautiful and the map is large with multiple terrain types. There are a variety of animals and skins to collect and a leaderboard for essence collected.

As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, I've found this game has a calming effect and helps me unwind for a few hours and I've seen this stated in more than one review before my own.

Highly recommend this game if it sounds like your cup of tea and can't wait for new animals to be released!

Two nights ago I bought this game, this is how it went...-Woke up in forest as a badger cub-Have no idea what Im doing-Walk around for like 5 minutes with no purpose-A lynx appears-I wave to the lynx and the lynx waves back-I think I've already made a friend-Fast forward two hours-I've been following this lynx around and we've been having a good time-suddenly, lynx stops-I give a ? emote-The lynx lays down and does a sad emote-Im confused and a little anxious because for some reason I feel like this lynx is my best friend-The lynx gives one more sad emote then disappears-I felt empty inside

This game caused me intense emotion by just running aruond and making friends using emotes and not language.10/10

Listen, I know it sounds like a walking simulator. And really, if you're looking for a fast paced game, turn away.

With Meadow, you get the ambience that Shelter, Shelter 2 and Paws delivered. The art style, as always from Might and Delight, is absolutely breathtaking.I've spent about an hour and a half now, squeaking around the map as a badger cub. I'm adorable. So are the other 20 badger cubs with me. Some of that time was spent trying to climb a hill. Why? I thought there was something on top.Spoiler; there was.

Meadow is relaxing. It's peaceful. It's a walking simulator for people who want to take a walk but also would like to interact non-verbally. It reminds me of Journey, in a way, because you'll come across people who you'll have never met- and won't ever meet again. Your brief time bonding will be characterised by scampering around and cute emotes.

I can't wait for what else they put in. Hell, maybe for those people who do want a bit of action, they'll be survival servers. I don't know. All I know is at present I'm a huge Shelter fan with a huge amount of college-stress and Meadow helps take the edge off.